Consider student housing since you are familiar with it, see below.Check out the Start Here page http://www.biggerpockets.com/starthereCheck out BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginner's Guide - A fantastic free book that walks through many of the key topics of real estate investing.Check out the free BiggerPockets Podcast - A weekly podcast with interviews and a ton of great advice.

Credit score = 680 - 700My 2012 and 2013 taxes show a total of $35,000My montlhy debts, total $200 And I'm looking at going with a VA loan as my first choice and a FHA as my second choice, so my max Debt to Income will be 50 I believe.From these numbers, I'm guessing I can afford a $450 - $475 house note ( tops ).

A house with top end (for the area) finishes in pristine condition is going to sell quicker and at a higher price than a house with lesser finishes and that is rough around the edges.

Do a search (search bar is in the top right corner) for smoke smell or odor and you'll find a number of threads with all kinds of advice.

HML's Also, look on the tab at top of page "Resources" and click on hard money loans.

Below is a quick overview of some of the resources.Check out the Start Here page http://www.biggerpockets.com/starthereCheck out BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginner's Guide - A fantastic free book that walks through many of the key topics of real estate investing.Check out the free BiggerPockets Podcast - A weekly podcast with interviews and a ton of great advice.

Personally no, I invest in FL the possible extra insurance costs are just a part of my cash flow analysis.I think you'll find that there is no such thing as a disaster free area.NE- Ice storms, flooding and as we saw recently hurricanes.SE- Hurricanes, hail, windMidwest-Hail, tornado, floodSW- Floods, earthquakeNW- Ice, snow, earthquakeObviously those all can happen in any of the other areas those are just kind of the off the top of my head disasters I would think of for each of those areas.

You might have already consumed below.Check out the Start Here page http://www.biggerpockets.com/starthereCheck out BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginner's Guide - A fantastic free book that walks through many of the key topics of real estate investing.Check out the free BiggerPockets Podcast - A weekly podcast with interviews and a ton of great advice.

no repleys for last 3hrs so just trying to get to top of page, any advice appeciated.

The "Learn" link across the top navigation bar has lots of great info, and most importantly, the BP members!